The 25-year-old from Lower Austria, who came fourth in the semifinals, improved in the final and was only beaten by Olympic champion and World Cup dominator Janja Garnbret from Slovenia. Bronze went to France’s Manon Hily. Nicolai Uznik also climbed for precious metal in the men’s bouldering competition.
Before the final, Pilz had said: “I don’t feel very fit, but I hope that I can fight.” The KVÖ athlete succeeded, she reached the 45+ mark. As expected, the favorite Garnbret was better, who only had to fold just below the top and reached 50+.
“Janja is actually unbeatable, so I’m super happy with second place, especially after this season’s ups and downs,” beamed the 2018 lead world champion in an ORF interview. “It might have been a little bit better, I tried the move wrong, fast instead of slow. But all in all I’m completely satisfied.”
Sandra Lettner narrowly missed out on reaching the final in tenth place. Mattea Pötzi (17th) and Julia Fiser (20th) also got stuck. On Sunday, Pilz and Franziska Sterrer are going for the final in bouldering. “It took a lot of skin, so the skin is quite thin on the fingertips. But I can definitely start quite freely because my main discipline has come up,” explained the newly crowned Vice European Champion, who led the way at the World Games in the USA in July – brought gold.
In men’s bouldering, Uznik came third in the six-man decision. “I’m overjoyed, it was a really difficult lap,” said the Carinthian, who reported on condition problems after a recent corona infection. Jakob Schubert, on the other hand, was eliminated in ninth place in the semi-finals, but he has another chance on Sunday in his prime discipline, lead climbing. The Czech Adam Ondra was the best boulderer in the semifinals.
Schubert was slowed down by a bleeding finger that needed care and offered too little friction. “It’s not an injury problem, but it’s very annoying. I would have had it easy in terms of fitness. I also felt extremely good shape in bouldering, now I’m extremely disappointed,” regretted the veteran. Nevertheless, he counts on a lot for the lead climb on Sunday. “It should normally be a little more solid,” said the world champion of 2012, 2018 and 2021
Source: Nachrichten
